


Benimina Solo's Late On-Set Force Ability

by MissCoppelia



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canonical Abuse Mentions, Canonical Character Death, Cockpit Sex, Comedy, Dirty Talk, F/M, Female Ben Solo, Female Finn (Star Wars), Gender or Sex Swap, Genderbending, Happy Ending, Let's Eviscerate Luke Skywalker, Male Rey Palpatine, Minor Character Death, No Pregnancy, Rey is a Palpatine (Star Wars), Safe to read for those who are triggered by pregnancy, This isn't TROS fixit as much as sequel trilogy fixit, some description of injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-16 19:27:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29212656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissCoppelia/pseuds/MissCoppelia
Summary: Benimina Solo has never, not even once, had an ounce of Force Sensitivity. She's done a great deal to move on with her life after failing out of her uncle's Jedi training school. So when Rey Palpatine comes into her life and suddenly everything changes, she's not a happy camper.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 51
Kudos: 23
Collections: To Find Your Kiss: The Reylo Fanfiction Anthology's Valentine's Day Exchange





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Evangel10n](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evangel10n/gifts).



> Hope you enjoy this, Evangel10n!

Benimina Solo had spent much of her life trying to build a tough outer shell. One that could withstand all the craziness her family threw her way, and everything she had to deal with in her life as a smuggler. It was worthwhile though. Life had taught her that her fiery temper didn’t win her too many battles or admirers.  
  
Which made it all the more irksome that Maz Kanata, pirate queen extraordinaire, was testing her limits so easily while her father and his co-pilot pretended to be more interested in their food.   
  
“Oh, speaking of fish, Beni, your mother said before she left that your uncle is still holed up on that little island planet he found. A talented man like him catching fish all day. What a waste.”

Benimina didn’t think it was such a waste. She had absolutely no qualms about stupid Uncle Luke choosing to spend the rest of his life as a pathetic hermit, punishing himself for how he’d torn their family apart by insisting Beni had to be a Jedi.

She’d wasted fifteen years of her childhood trying to please her uncle and her mother (Han didn’t care so much, but he could be a pushover when the Skywalker twins banded together). Fifteen kriffing years learning useless skills like meditation, fifteen kriffing years spent pouring over snooze-worthy Jedi texts, fifteen kriffing years spent traveling the galaxy to look for other Force users, and she was the only one out of all of them who never learned how to move a stupid rock. 

The only way to keep her mouth shut was to stuff it with deep-fried Nuna leg, so that’s what she did. Maz looked at her for a response and Beni just shrugged. It really wasn’t her problem anymore, as long as Uncle Luke stayed far, far away from her.

* * *

Rey frowned at the holomap laid out before him, though no one could tell what he was thinking below the dark grey exterior of his mask.

It just seemed far too easy. General Leia Organa was usually better at hiding than this, but for the past week, she’d been seen cavorting about Maz Kanata’s castle by many of his spies as if there wasn’t a price on her head. 

It almost seemed like a trap. Far too good to be true, for sure. But he had to take the risk to find Luke Skywalker. Doing so would cement his power as the new Supreme Leader of the First Order. 

Besides, his only other option involved going to Jakku, and if there was one place he never wanted to return to ever again, it was there. 

A few words to his generals and Captain Finn, and his flagship jumped into hyperspace, as his landing party readied themselves for their eventual descent to Takodana’s surface. 

There were no Resistance ships when they arrived and the journey down was uneventful. Once the First Order’s arrival became apparent, there were a few ships that tried to take off fast. Captain Finn sent an order back to the flagship to scan and board them in case one was smuggling the General off of the planet, something that made Rey smile under his helmet. Finn had always served Rey well since he’d discovered the woman’s talents on a mission, and her loyalty to him had only grown stronger since they’d united the stormtroopers and overthrown Snoke and Hux. Having her at his side gave him more confidence that this mission would go well. 

Part of him wished he had a moment to admire the lush greenery of Takodana, a tiresome consequence of his station was never having a moment to enjoy the galaxy’s beauty after half a lifetime of none at all. Perhaps one day that would change.

The stormtroopers encountered no resistance as they entered the castle, and when he entered a hush fell over the room, the only noise coming from those who had the sense to hide.

“Sweep the castle,” he said to Captain Finn, his voice tinny but sure through the voice modulator. “Find her.” 

Turning back to look over the crowd, he noticed one table that was stock still, watching the action unfold with cautious eyes and hands on their blasters. When Rey focused his attention on them he recognized not only Maz Kanata, but the Wookiee, the older human man, and his younger female companion from all the briefings on the Resistance and their allies. No wonder Leia Organa had been waiting around Takodana for so many days.

“Arrest them,” he said, pointing at the table.

After dodging the first blaster shot aimed at him, Rey realized things had been going far too smoothly for him. As chaos descended in the form of several war cries, he ignited his saber and began to deflect anything and anyone thrown his way.

He had to hand it to the Solo family, it was a brilliant way to provide cover for an escape -he’d already lost sight of the Wookiee, which was a feat in and of itself. But he finally caught sight of the girl’s wavy black hair just before it disappeared down a staircase, and gave chase. Catching even one of them would be worth all this hassle.

* * *

Beni scrambled down the steps of Maz’s basement. If she remembered the layout of the castle right, a series of turns would take her to a little doorway that led to an underground tunnel that would deposit her on the other side of the lake. Then she could rendezvous with Chewie and hopefully her dad, and they could slip away from the First Order while they were still looking the other way. 

She was just searching for the right passageway when a deep, modulated voice interrupted her flight.

“HALT!” 

Jolting, she didn’t stop completely, just threw a worried look over her shoulder to judge the distance between her and the figure. He was far enough away that she didn’t have to worry about the laser sword, but not so far that she could avoid a well-aimed blaster shot. 

Beni spotted the right corridor and began to turn just as she saw his arm swing out and suddenly her body stopped moving. Immediately she struggled, the momentum of her body and brain trying to fight against what she knew was the Force. 

She couldn’t even turn her head to watch the tall, lanky figure approach her slowly, his red saber still crackling at his side. Beni cursed the Force like she had so many times before for not blessing her with the family gift as she tried to tamp down the terror in her gut. 

If this had been a fair fight, she’d be able to take this tall, lanky asshole down in an instant. But since it wasn’t a fair fight, she took her satisfaction in unleashing every profane insult she knew upon his stupid, masked head.

* * *

Rey watched silently while the short, muscular woman he knew to be Benimina Solo, daughter of Leia Organa, screamed every profanity he knew (and several he didn’t) at him. He’d never seen such rage from a Jedi before.

Strangely, she put up no resistance to his hold. He was expecting a fight - after all, she was a descendant of the Skywalker line and had spent many years under Luke Skywalker’s tutelage. She should have been powerful in the Force, and yet Rey could find no trace of it beyond the usual wisp of life that surrounded all living things.

Rey squinted beneath his mask as the tirade continued. Perhaps she was adept at hiding her talents like her uncle and mother were. And if it wasn’t for the fact that she was screaming at him, he might have even found her attractive, what with her pale, mole-dotted skin framed by dark waves and ample breasts.

“Are you done yet?” he asked, not caring if his irritation came through.

Her face curled into a snarl. “Go die in a Sarlacc pit.” 

“If only we were near Tatooine, I could give you a front-row seat to the show,” Rey snapped. He brought his saber up to her neck, which made her gulp back her rage in an attempt to avoid the saber’s fiery edge. 

“Luke Skywalker. Where is he?”

Her eyes flicked up to his face, despite their dark color, Rey could see the anger swirling in him. So much anger for a Jedi. “My uncle and I are _not_ on speaking terms.”

Rey’s eyebrows raised under the mask before he remembered she couldn’t see them. “You still know where he is, though, don’t you? You pretend that you don’t, you hate that you know anything about him at all, but you do. You know too much, Jedi.” 

Benimina Solo grit her teeth and emitted a low growl. “Call me that one more time and let’s see where it gets you, you Darth Vader wannabe.”

Rey felt rage curl in his gut. The mask was for protection and anonymity, not to harken back to his predecessor. And he’d tried _hard_ to not emulate Vader in its design. 

Still, he needed Skywalker’s location and he wasn’t going to slice her throat if she had what he wanted. 

“You must be a really awful Sith if you can’t tell I’m not a Jedi,” she quipped, smirking openly at him now. “Aren’t you that new Supreme Leader too? How’d _YOU_ get the job? Did you sleep with old Snoke or something?”

Rey twitched at the mention of his old master. He didn’t miss the man in the slightest. He was just a means to an end, a stepping stone for Rey to follow his true calling. “Fine. If you won’t cooperate, I’ll just take what I need.”

The moment before his hand reached her forehead, he realized that he’d completely forgotten to put his gloves on that morning.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey tries to probe Benimina Solo's mind, but it goes very... VERY badly.

Beni had managed to hold it together until his hand reached out. She knew what that hand meant, what was coming, and her heart filled with old fear once again. 

She squeezed her eyes shut and waited for that dreaded feeling of another mind forcing its way into hers. Instead, she felt hot fingers dig into her forehead before she opened her eyes.

But instead of the new Supreme Leader of the First Order, a more terrifying figure hovered over her. Her eyes grew wide as she recognized him from the many Resistance training meetings her mother had made her sit through, but the real thing was far more frightening. The deep valleys of Snoke’s wounded face gave way to rotted teeth and eyes that glowed with madness, and Beni still couldn’t move as he closed in on her.

She screamed and turned away, but found herself surrounded by suffocating darkness that swirled and beat at her and scraped her skin. When she tried to take a breath, her mouth filled with sand and she choked. The sand sent her tumbling down, down, down, until she landed on something hard and cool, the noise of the raging storm gone as if it had never existed before.

Her back arched in pain as a choked cry escaped her lips. When she could finally open her eyes, she discovered she was in a cavernous ship, a felled Empire Star Destroyer sitting on its end by the looks of it. But before she could orient herself, a cloaked figure loomed over her. Beni scrambled back, only to run into another figure, and in another moment she was surrounded. They grabbed at her, and no matter how hard she fought, she could not escape them.

They deposited her before a dark throne with a ghastly figure sitting on it, the surroundings only illuminated by flashes of lightning. The sight filled her with untold dread, though she could not explain why.   
  
“Who are you?” 

White lips peeled back to reveal yellowed teeth grinning in amusement. “I have waited a very, very long time to find you, my child, my true heir. Rise, Rey Palpatine, and join me as I forge my new empire.”

“GET OUT!” A voice roared to life in front of her, and for a brief moment, she was back in the basement of Maz’s castle with the tall, lanky leader of the First Order. In the next, she was somewhere she’d never wanted to return to again.

This time the figure was all too familiar, she’d gazed into his blue-gray eyes a million times, though his grip on her shoulders was rough and not caring like it should have been. “How could you fail me, Benimina? After all this time I’ve spent training you?”

Beni felt the scream echo through her body, reverberating around her and hitting something else, sending the sound back in a way that was all wrong. So she pushed and pushed and pushed until she was the only one there.

As she opened her eyes again, she realized she was back in the present with the man she now knew as Rey Palpatine. There was no missing the way his chest heaved as if he was equally traumatized by whatever had just occurred. 

“How did you do that?” 

Beni blinked, realizing that his hold on her had disappeared. Still, she felt too frightened to move. “Huh?”

Rey growled again. “You entered my mind! And then you pushed me out of yours! Only a Force user should be able to do that!”

Shaking her head, Beni tried to understand what had just happened. It didn’t feel like a normal mind probe. Usually she only felt  _ her _ own memories being rifled through. Just flashes, not whole scenes where she could feel and see everything just as it was. And  _ never _ someone else’s memories.

“I’m not a Force user,” she murmured. “I’ve never been.”

Before her, Rey stood immobile and unreadable behind his mask. “You  _ can _ use the Force. It’s the only explanation.”

Beni began to shake her head, stepping back until she hit the door of a storage room behind her. “No. No, it must have been you somehow. You-you must have done something weird with your mind probe.”   
  
He shook his head, then brought his hands to the rim of his helmet, releasing the clasps and pulling it off. Having seen his memories from his own eyes, Beni truly did not know what to expect of Rey Palpatine, but it was certainly not high cheekbones dusted with freckles and long, delicate eyelashes. Nor was it the wispy brown hair tied back into a messy bun, with a layer hanging down the back of his neck. And it definitely wasn’t the beautiful hazel eyes that finally lifted themselves to look at her with such inquisitiveness. 

“No. It’s you,” he said, far too soft for someone who was her enemy, though all that seemed to be forgotten. “I can feel the Force shifting around you as we speak.”

Beni felt her ears and cheeks flush at the intensity of his gaze as he stepped closer and poured over her body. Aside from that, though, she didn’t feel any different. At all. 

“I don’t feel a kriffing thing,” she said through gritted teeth. She felt less and less comfortable the closer he got to her, not that he posed any great threat to her at the moment -he seemed too distracted for that- but something about his closeness made her feel unsteady. 

* * *

Rey stepped away once he’d noticed how close he’d gotten to her, hoping his face wasn’t turning red. Admittedly, he’d been a bit distracted by her muscular arms and the beautiful curve of her hips, but that didn’t change the fact that the Force had changed around her and that his own energy in the Force seemed to be responding enthusiastically to that change. But even if he could feel it, she seemed to be blind to it. 

Frowning, he racked his brain for some way to open her eyes and so she could see what was happening. For a brief moment, he wondered if it was a ruse on her part. Perhaps she was looking for a way to escape, but if she was as strong in the Force as he could feel she was, then there was nothing stopping her from attacking him. And yet she wasn’t.

He scanned the area for some object that might prove useful and found none. The halls were meticulously clean aside from a few boxes. But it would be better to start her off with something smaller. In his hands were his lightsaber and helmet, and though his saber was lighter than the helmet, it seemed unwise to let her practice on that. 

So, with a great deal of uncertainty, he held out his helmet. “Try to move this. With the Force.”

That only made her glare at him. “I can’t. I’m not a Jedi.” 

Rey sighed and pushed his helmet closer to her. “Just try. See if you can sense it in the Force. If you can sense it, you can move it.”

Rolling her eyes, she shook her head. “I can’t. You think I haven’t tried before? I tried for five kriffing years under the tutelage of the only Master Jedi left in the galaxy!” 

“ _ Try, _ ” Rey demanded through gritted teeth. “I don’t care if you have the Force, I’m only after Skywalker’s whereabouts.”

After another glare thrown his way, Benimina looked down at the helmet, frowning. She stayed like that a moment before reaching out a hand, and Rey silently cheered. It was easier for new Force sensitives to attempt new techniques by trying to channel it through their hands, he had done the same when he’d first begun training with Snoke.

For a moment there was nothing but silence and Rey did his best not to grip the helmet too tightly. But it didn’t wobble or even quiver, and when he looked back at the woman before him, there were angry tears starting to form in her eyes.

She tore her hand away as if burned and curled up on herself as the tears spilled more freely. “I can’t! I never could! Nothing’s changed! You’re just lying to me!”

Something in Rey’s gut twisted at her words and the pain he could feel through the Force. He recognized it, that loneliness and rejection and hurt that lay deep inside a tough shell. And it was because he recognized it that he grabbed her shoulders and pulled her to face him.

“You can! Maybe you’re not ready for that yet, but we’ll try something else, something simpler!”

Rey knew by the confused look on her face that he was growing wild, desperate to make this work than he needed to be. They were supposed to be enemies. He was supposed to be extracting information from her, and yet all he could think about was helping her instead. He wanted to curse his weak heart, and yet he couldn’t condemn it. There was just  _ something _ about her.

“A mind probe,” he said quickly. “We’ll try another mind probe and you can push me out again. You already know how to do it somewhere deep inside because you’ve done it before.”

His hand came up to her face again, brushing it lightly before she flinched away. But he continued, pressing his fingers to her temples, trying to push away the thoughts that wished he could touch her elsewhere. 

And then, for the second time that day, he entered her mind.

* * *

This time, the mind probe was a lot more like the ones Beni remembered. The intrusion, the way it sort of hurt to have someone else in there when it should have just been her. But the worst was definitely how dirty it made her feel, all her thoughts right there for him to see.

And if he could see them, then he'd be disgusted by what he saw.

Beni tried to remember the things that Luke taught her. How to erect walls in her mind, how to resist, things that had never worked before. But now she felt them happen with ease, and somehow she pushed Rey out, stumbling into his mind along the way.

“Wait-” she heard him say, but it was too late, she could see the days he starved in the Jakku desert. The days he was beaten. And all his days spent waiting and longing and trying not to lose hope.

And the day hope came in the wrong form.

Palpatine had hoped Rey would turn to the dark side, and he had, but only so he would never feel powerless again. Now that Rey had realized the full extent of his abilities, he was intent on never suffering again, even if he had to terrorize the world into doing it. And yet, there was so much caring there too. He saw the suffering of others and it burned deeply in his soul. 

There was more. All his training, all his knowledge, entering her brain at such rapid speed that she quickly became overwhelmed. There were things in there that no person should have ever seen, and she pulled away from it fast as she could. 

Beni felt her chest heave as she stepped back from him. Rey looked just as winded as she did. His face twisted and for a second, she felt a sting of fear, but instead of attacking, he broke out into a smile.   
  
“You did it,” he breathed. “You pushed me out-”

“I was in your mind,” Beni cried out. “How??”

The smile on Rey’s face was too good and pure for someone who was supposed to be the Supreme Leader of the First Order. He laughed and clapped his hands around her shoulders. “You can use the Force! That’s how!” 

And then, to her great surprise, he pulled her into an enthusiastic hug. 

As his arms wrapped around her, Beni’s breath left her and she could feel a warmth that came not just from his body pressed against her, but somewhere within them both. It was nothing like she’d ever felt before. Normally, when someone hugged her (if she let them), she only felt that warmth within herself. But this was like something singing and intertwining. A connection. 

She pulled back and looked at Rey in shock at the realization that something new was inside her, but as soon as their eyes met he turned red and ended the embrace.

“S-sorry. I just got excited, um-” he patted himself down and grabbed his helmet again, feigning nonchalance. “So about your uncle.”

Ah, yes. Her uncle. Just the thought of him sent sparks flying in her head. All the years of training, meditation, studying, and all the belittling she’d received at Luke’s hands when her abilities in the Force failed to manifest. When she thought too much about him, her anger was hard to control. 

“What do you want with him?” she grumbled.    
  
“He’s fought Emperor Palpatine before, I wanted to learn how he won that battle.”

Beni’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “Palpatine… he’s your grandfather?”   
  


* * *

Rey breathed in deeply at Benimina’s question. His grandfather was still deep in hiding, instructing Rey from the shadow in an effort to bring him back to power. It never sat well how he’d let Rey suffer on Jakku for nearly two decades before bringing him under his wing. Despite everything he’d bestowed upon Rey since, the generosity felt fake - a means to an end that Palpatine had never revealed to his heir.

So Rey had devised a plan to stop him from reaching that end. 

“Yes,” Rey said, scowling. “He’s my grandfather.” 

She raised an eyebrow at him before she looked away, deep in thought. The scowl on her face didn’t make him feel especially hopeful, but somehow he still was. Whatever had happened to them had changed things. He could feel her mood, a swirl of resentment and confusion, but not hatred, and he tried to pass on a feeling of reassurance and encouragement.

Her dark eyes flitted back to him, though she was still scowling.  _ Shut up, _ her eyes seemed to tell him.

“You’re not going to kill him, right? If I tell you where he is. Because if you do, my mother will wring my neck.” 

He shook his head. “I don’t want to kill Luke Skywalker, just my grandfather. I promise.”    
  
That only made her mouth twist even further, as if she was somehow displeased with that information. Rey wished he understood, but he was still at a loss.    
  
“Why should I trust you? You’re the Supreme Leader of the First Order.”

Rey’s heart dropped at that. There was no reason for her to trust him, no way to prove he wasn’t an enemy. Her mother was the leader of the Resistance, for kriff’s sake. They were enemies, even without trying to kill Luke Skywalker. And then there was the fact that he’d nearly tortured her with an invasive mind probe...

He gulped hard, trying to quell the urge to push her to do what he wanted. Because he didn’t want to do that anymore. Not to her anyway. “You don’t have to. I-I’ll understand if you don’t.” 

Benimina stared at him in silence, her eyes trapping and holding him for as long as she deemed fit. Rey found himself willing to stay there forever, it just felt right to be around her in a way he’d never felt before. 

Finally, her shoulders relaxed and she sighed heavily. “Fine. I’ll lead you to my uncle.”

Rey’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Really?”

Benimina nodded, something unhappy returning to her face, something that wasn’t directed at him. “It’s time dear Uncle Luke and I had a little chat.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey Palpatine, meet... Han Solo

Beni tried to ignore the stares she got as she walked through Maz’s castle behind Rey, who had put his helmet back on. Most of the aliens didn’t know her anyway, just knew that she was Han and Leia’s daughter, so who were they to kriffing judge?

She did stop to whisper into Maz’s ear that she was fine and sorry for all the trouble, but something had happened and she needed to go with Rey to take care of it. The old woman pulled back and looked deep into her eyes for an uncomfortable moment before breaking out into one of the biggest, toothiest smiles she’d ever seen.

“Finally! I told them to just be patient,” she cackled as she patted Beni’s hands. “Good for you, sweetheart.” 

Beni smiled back nervously, completely unsure of what Maz had just implied. Had she known Beni was Force sensitive the entire time? Even when no one else could sense it?

Her mind was full of questions as they exited the castle and walked toward the First Order cruiser, and she didn’t notice her father racing towards them until one of his blaster shots hit Rey in the arm.

“BENI!” Han cried out. Beside him, Chewie roared and readied his bowcaster, about to land a more fatal shot. 

“Kriff!” Beni swore as she watched Rey stumble and grasp at his arm. She turned back to where her father and Chewie stood. “DON’T SHOOT! IT’S FINE, I’M OKAY!”

Chewie thankfully pulled back his bowcaster, but Han kept his blaster ready even as they were surrounded by stormtroopers. 

“What the kriff, kid?” Han said, gruffly.

Beni shared an exasperated look with Rey before running over to where Han and Chewie stood. She could feel the flush on her face before she even opened her mouth.

“Look, Dad, Chewie, it’s complicated, but Rey just wants to talk to Uncle Luke and now I honestly need to talk to him too.”

Han raised an eyebrow. “Rey?”

Beni gestured back to Rey, whose arm was currently being looked at by a stormtrooper in silver armor.

“You mean you’re on a first-name basis with the Supreme Leader of the First Order now?!” he said incredulously. Chewie growled his surprise as well and Beni felt her ears burning. 

“It’s complicated,” she mumbled.

Han turned to her, an unbelieving tone in his stare. “Complicated how?”

“Not like that,” Beni said quickly. “Some things happened when we ran into each other in the basement.”

“Some things  _ happened?? _ ”

Beni worked her jaw trying to find the right words to make her dad not worry, but she honestly couldn’t think of how best to assuage him. It’s not like she fully understood the situation or trusted Rey entirely herself. “It’ll be fine, Dad. I’ll keep an eye on him so he doesn’t do anything to Uncle Luke, and then I’ll rendezvous with you later.”

“Like hell you will, he’s the enemy!” 

Beni bit her lip. “Look, I know, but I trust him enough to let him talk to Luke. It’s hard to explain.”

Han looked at Chewie, then back to his daughter with an expression that could only be interpreted as “you better start talking, kid.”

Beni gulped hard. If there was one thing her family wasn’t good at, it was accepting her life choices without complaint. She was barely able to process the fact that she was now Force Sensitive, and now she was dreading their reaction.

“Pardon me,” a tinny female voice said from right behind Beni’s shoulder. “Your father managed to sever an artery when he shot the Supreme Leader. He’s returning to the Finalizer now so he doesn’t bleed out down here. Is this something you two can discuss later?”

Beni glanced over at her shoulder to see the silver-suited stormtrooper, and behind her was Rey who was leaning on another stormtrooper as he was led onto his cruiser, grasping at a blood-stained arm.

“Kriff,” she muttered. 

Chewie groaned loudly.

The stormtrooper sighed heavily. “Look, I don’t want to get into the middle of your family dispute, but I can’t leave here without Miss Solo.”

“No way in hell am I letting you take my daughter anywhere, First Order scum,” Han spat. 

The stormtrooper sighed in frustration again and Beni realized she had no choice but to tell them. They wouldn’t let her do _ anything _ if she didn’t.

“I’m Force Sensitive,” she said quickly. “When Rey grabbed me, something happened and now I’m Force Sensitive. That’s why I want to go talk to Uncle Luke. He would know what’s happening to me.”

Han cocked an eyebrow at her, then looked her up and down. “Did you bump your head, kid?”

She sighed. “No.”

“Are you sure? People don’t suddenly just become Force Sensitive at 19 years old.”

Beni rolled her eyes. “Uncle Luke did! Mom did!”

Realizing his mistake, Han scowled. “That was different! He didn’t know what the Force was!”

“Does it matter?”

“You’re both welcome to join us on the Finalizer as well, if that would make you feel better, sir,” the stormtrooper interrupted. “I’m sure the Supreme Leader won’t mind.”

“I’m pretty sure my wife will mind,” Han grumbled. “And I’m  _ not _ leaving my ship here unguarded.” 

“Mom doesn’t have to know,” Beni squeaked, fresh panic and embarrassment seeping into her cheeks.

“You can dock your ship on the Finalizer,” the stormtrooper added. “Can we please just get going? I have better things to do than babysit the three of you all day.”

Han grabbed Beni’s shoulder and tried to pull her away. “Don’t worry, your ladyship, you don’t have to stay. We’ll be just fine on our own.”

The woman tilted her head back and let out a tired groan before looking back at them and adjusting her blaster to point directly at Chewie. “Look, the Supreme Leader doesn’t want to lose Miss Solo’s trust, but I’m really not that bothered if I do. So we can either do this the easy way, or I can do it the usual First Order way where I shoot you and leave.”

Han’s brows raised and Chewie roared in protest, but Beni wrapped her arm around her father. If nothing else, he’d taught her how to try to bargain her way into getting people to do what she wanted. It didn’t always work, but it was worth a shot.

“Okay look, let’s just go to their ship. We’ll make sure nothing happens to Uncle Luke, and then we can part ways with the First Order on good terms. It won’t be that hard.”

Han turned to look at her. “Your mother’s going to kill me.”

“We don’t have to tell her,” Beni said with a smile as sickly sweet as her voice. 

“I already sent a quick holo telling her that you were in trouble,” Han grumbled.

“Dank farrik,” she muttered under her breath, wishing she’d never bought her father that portable communicator for Life Day. “Well, guess you should send her another one and tell her to meet us at Uncle Luke’s.”

Her family finally persuaded, they loaded themselves onto the Millennium Falcon and headed toward the Finalizer. 

Beni was surprised to see the stormtrooper woman take off her helmet, revealing long locs wrapped into a bun. As far as she knew, stormtroopers were never supposed to take off their helmet while on duty or in public.

The woman caught her staring and flashed her a wide grin, her dark brown and pink lips revealing perfect white teeth. “Gets too stuffy in those things. Captain Finn, nice to meet you.”

Beni smiled back and reached out a hand. “I’m Beni Solo, but I guess you knew that.”

“I did.”

Han looked over his shoulder at the two of them, but Beni threw him a nasty look before he dared to comment on her looks or something equally offensive. She turned back to Finn and tried her best to be a good hostess -not her usual strong suit.

“So what’s it like in the First Order these days?”

Finn laughed. “Trying to get intel on us?”

Beni shook her head, blushing at her mistake. “No- No, uh, sorry I’m not always great at small talk.”

That made Finn laugh again, but when she stopped, her eyes became serious for a moment before she smiled slightly down at her shiny helmet. “Seriously though, it’s better. So much better.”

Beni’s eyebrows raised, making her wish she could ask more. “Really?”

Finn nodded, smiling wider. “Rey’s changed a lot of things since he took power.”

At the helm, Han let out a barking laugh. “The First Order changing for the better? That’ll be the day.”

* * *

Rey was feeling much improved since the med-droids patched up his arm and gave him a quick blood transfusion. He’d been rather shocked to actually get hit by a blaster, but his first instinct had been to protect Benimina and not his own safety. 

Still, he felt even more shocked when Captain Finn led both Benimina AND Han Solo through the doorway to his quarters, with their Wookiee companion taking up the rear. Somehow he’d thought only she’d come aboard, and then they’d have some time to get to know each other better. Alone.

He wasn’t expecting to have to face her father, who was already scowling at him.

Thank goodness for his helmet.

Nonetheless, decorum was important, so he stood to greet his guests.    
  
“Han Solo. It is an honor to meet the man who did the Kessel Run in 14 parsecs.”

Rey realized immediately he’d made a blunder when Benimina covered her face in her hands and groaned while Chewbacca began to guffaw and crack a joke about it one day being 18 parsecs. Han himself just ground his jaw and stared Rey down.

“It was  _ twelve _ parsecs.” 

Flushing, Rey gestured to a set of chairs. “My mistake then. Please, come talk with me while we head to Skywalker’s location.”

Benimina gave him a look as she passed by, confirming that he was biting off more than he could chew.

“Don’t  _ ever _ mention the Kessel Run again if you want to get on his good side,” she muttered under her breath.

“Right!” Rey said, clapping his hands together as he took his seat. “Where to start?”

“Heard you made my daughter Force Sensitive,” Han grumbled.

“Ah- uhm,” Rey tried. “Yes, that.”

“Daaaaad,” Benimina groaned, hiding her embarrassment behind only one hand this time.

“No, I’m serious, Beni,” Han growled. “I want to know how a Jedi master could train you for five whole years and nothing happens, and then this nerfherder comes along, and bam! You can move rocks now!” 

“Dad, I don’t know how to move rocks,” Benimina groaned again, her face growing entirely too red. “He just touched me and it happened.”

Han’s head whipped back towards Rey and the look on his face could kill a million rathtars. “That’s right. You  _ touched _ my  _ daughter? _ ”

Rey tried not to visibly squirm in his seat, but it was a struggle. “I was trying to do a mind probe. I admit my way of... using the Force can be a bit physical at times because I did not have proper training when I first began to use my powers. I assure you I meant no real harm.”

Han Solo said nothing, just crossed his arms and glared at Rey. The Wookiee grumbled something that sounded like a threat, but Rey wasn’t exactly sure whether he’d be skewered and then stuffed with bantha poodoo and THEN roasted, or the other way around. 

He was just trying to formulate a way to change the subject when Captain Finn hurried in. 

“Supreme Leader, we’ve arrived at Ahch-To,” she said, breathless.

“Good,” he said as he stood again. “Let’s get down to the surface and-”

He didn’t get to complete his sentence as suddenly the entire ship was rocked by an explosion that threw all of them from their seats and Benimina fell into his arms. 

Instinctively, he covered her head and body as much as he could, though he noticed she did not fit entirely neatly into his arms due to her broad, muscular shoulders. In another moment, the ship regained its balance and Benimina began to pull away. 

“Are you alright?” Rey asked, his heart pounding shamelessly away as she looked up at him. 

Her face turned red again. “F-fine.”

“What was  _ that? _ ” Han yelled, dusting himself up off the floor. 

“Sir, the Resistance fleet is here,” Finn said as she also brought herself upright. “All of them.”

Rey felt his stomach drop. “ _ All  _ of them?” 

Benimina whipped around to her father. “What did you tell Mom????”

Han shrugged sheepishly. “I might have neglected to tell her that you weren’t in so much trouble anymore.”

What happened next, Rey could only assume was something he’d never seen because he’d never known his parents. Before his eyes, Benimina bristled and balled up her fists and her energy in the Force spiked and crackled. He was almost afraid of her as she trembled with rage for a moment before finally letting it loose with a scream.

“You better call her off before she kills us all or I’ll gut you like a ghest!”

Han looked pale in the face of his daughter’s wrath, taking a few steps back before another strike on the ship sent him flying into Captain Finn. Once he was upright again, he lifted the little holo-communicator and cleared his throat. A few clicks later, a little image of General Organa popped up.

“Han! Where’s Beni?”

Han grinned sheepishly and scratched at the back of his head. “About that, uh- she’s okay. We’re both okay. At least we were until your fleet started firing on us.”

“WHAT?”

That was the moment Beni chose to stride over to her father and yank the little communicator out of his hands. 

“We’re in the First Order ship you just hit! Stop firing on us! Everything’s fine and we’ll meet you down on the surface!” 

“WHAT? You’re on the FIRST ORDER SHIP? What are you-”

The General was cut off as Beni turned off the communicator and thrust it into her father’s hands. Then she turned around and set her burning gaze on Rey and something funny curled deep inside his gut.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Get us down to the surface!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love <3


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey finally meets Luke Skywalker. And Leia Organa. And probably more Skywalker-Organa-Solo family secrets than he ever wanted to learn.

Beni knew anger was bad. Luke had only spent years teaching her how to control her anger and frustration, to keep a calm demeanor, so that she may never fall to the Dark Side.

But as she descended to the surface of Ahch-To with half her family, Rey, and Captain Finn in tow, she knew she would not be happy until she made old Uncle Luke quiver in his boots at her rage. It seemed like no matter when her chance had arrived, she’d never make a good Jedi.

She sighed, watching the watery surface get closer and closer.

“Are you alright?” A soft voice murmured beside her. 

Beni looked over to see Rey, or at least Rey’s stupid Darth Vader-wannabe helmet, tilted down at her. She could feel the concern coming off of him in ways that she couldn’t feel emotions from other people. It was probably a Force user thing.

Suddenly she grimaced at the thought of having to feel every single emotion her mother and Luke felt. 

“I’ll be fine,” she said hurriedly. “Let’s just get this over with.”

Rey seemed to deflate at that, and while she tried not to care, it made Beni’s heart hurt in a way that it’d never quite hurt before. But instead of thinking about it, she decided to focus on something much more satisfying: the tongue lashing she was about to give her uncle.

Her father was surprisingly quiet on the journey down, only muttering to Chewie as the Millennium Falcon touched down, but when they exited the ship and saw her mother and uncle staring down them from the top of the mountain path, Han sighed.

“Well, it was nice knowing you all.”

Beni rolled her eyes and grabbed her father by the sleeve of his jacket, pulling him up the rough stone and dirt steps to the top of the island. The cold ocean air stung her skin and a shiver ran through her.  _ Force, _ she had forgotten how much she hated this planet.

She reached the top of the mountain first and wrapped her mom up in a quick hug.

“Don’t worry. I’m fine. I’m just Force Sensitive now,” she murmured in Leia’s ear, not really wanting to have Luke hear it yet. That way it could be their moment, just for two seconds before Leia inevitably pulled back and said-

“FORCE SENSITIVE? Since when!?”

Beni sighed, missing the softness of her mother’s embrace already. And of course Uncle Luke was already coming closer, no longer hesitant around her now that the news had been revealed.

“How could it be?” He asked, looking her over like a piece of meat, like the Force was something either of them could even  _ see. _ “After all those years we spent training?”

Beni huffed. “Maybe if I’d had a better teacher, it would have come sooner! Or maybe my kriffing teacher would have told me that there’s apparently a family curse where our Force powers don’t show up until we’re 19!”

Luke pulled back with a nervous look on his face, but Leia stepped between them. “Don’t be ridiculous! We-we just didn’t know anything about our heritage as children. We didn’t even know anything about our parents until we were your age!”

“Your mother’s right,” Han said, placing an arm around Beni’s shoulder that she shrugged off immediately. “It took them a while to figure out they were related at all.”

That was definitely  _ not _ what she wanted to hear from him. “Don’t patronize me! I know you were happy to have me off studying with Luke instead of pestering  _ you _ all the time!”

She turned back to Luke and Leia, scowling. “And it turned out to be a total kriffing waste! Even now that I have powers, I don’t know how to lift rocks! And you couldn’t pay me a million credits to take another lesson from  _ him! _ ” 

Luke looked aghast at that. “But then who would you learn from?”

It was then that Beni realized she didn’t exactly have a ton of choices when it came to a teacher. She was currently standing in front of all the other Force users she knew well. One of them she hated; one she knew would never have the time or patience to teach her; and that meant her only other option was her enemy. A quick glance at her mother confirmed that she was horrified that Beni was even  _ thinking _ about taking Rey on as a teacher.

She ground her jaw and straightened up to her full height. “Maybe no one. I’ve done just fine without the Force for years, why should I rely on it now?”

“Because it could save your life someday!” Leia cried. “And think of all that you could do with those powers!” 

Beni rolled her eyes. Her mother had a point, but she was still far too angry to concede it.    
  
“Forget it. For now all I want to know is how he could give me Force Powers,” she said, gesturing back at Rey. 

* * *

Rey felt all eyes turn on him, and once again he did not regret the cool anonymity his helmet brought. Whatever his face was doing, it couldn’t reveal his nervousness to anyone. 

Still, he needed to act a part. But which part? It felt like Supreme Leader wasn’t the right role for this conversation, and yet that’s how he came to be there. But then there was Beni, and he wanted more than anything to win her trust.

He stepped forward towards the famed Jedi Master and the equally famous war hero by his side. Both were looking at him with such confusion and hesitance that he knew his gut feeling was right.

“Hi. Rey Palpatine,” he said, sticking out his gloved hand as a peace offering. 

He watched the confused and horrified looks on their faces twist into desperation and uncertainty. And he felt for the two paragons of goodness in the galaxy. He really did. Because no other day of his entire life had ever gone so strangely as this one. Not even the day his grandfather brought him up in the world.

Finally, after what seemed like an eon, Skywalker took his hand and shook it.    
  
“Luke,” he said gruffly, still shaking Rey’s hand. “Heard you’ve been looking for me.”    
  
Rey nodded, relaxing his hand to allow Luke to end the handshake gracefully, which he seemed not to want to do. “I apologize for using unsavory methods to do so, but you’re a hard man to pin down.”

The handshake stopped abruptly, but Luke still held him in his grip. “Yes. For good reason.” 

The old man finally released him and Rey took his hand back shyly.    
  
“Why are you here?”

Gulping helped quiet Rey’s nerves for just a moment, just enough to get his request out at least. “I’d like to know how you defeated my grandfather, Emperor Palpatine.” 

A gasp escaped Leia. “He’s alive?”

Rey nodded solemnly. “He is the one behind the rise of the First Order. He rescued me from Jakku, but his goals and mine are… different. I wish to kill him, but you’re the only person who’s ever defeated him.” 

Luke’s face went funny just as Leia’s hand came to her mouth to stifle a small laugh. Behind him, Han and Chewbacca burst into uncontrolled laughter, and Rey was beginning to think that this day was truly cursed somehow.

He searched Luke’s face for some sort of reassurance, but the Jedi Master had closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh of annoyance. Only after a long moment of contemplation did he open them again.

“I didn’t defeat Palpatine, my father did.”

Rey’s eyebrows raised. “Darth Vader defeated him?”

Luke nodded solemnly. “He tried to turn me to the Dark Side, so I threw away my saber, and he attacked me with his lightning bolts. I would have died if not for Vader throwing him into the depths of the Death Star.”

_ Oh no, _ Rey thought to himself.  _ This is bad. _

Rey watched numbly as Luke’s eyes grew watery and Leia took his hand and tried to comfort him. “That’s how Vader redeemed himself and finally turned to the Light. Right before he died.”

A knot formed in Rey’s throat at the emotional scene before him. Not because he felt for Luke’s loss -though he wanted to because it meant he’d have family to remember and mourn, as well as family to comfort him- but because that meant he had no real hope of defeating Palpatine. 

He stumbled backward in shock as Benimina surged past him.

“Wait a second! You didn’t even defeat Palpatine yourself?! The whole galaxy thinks you did!”

He didn’t hear the rest as he turned back towards the steps down to the Millennium Falcon.

“Supreme Leader, are you alright?” Finn asked, hopping over from where she’d been watching the strange scene.

“Fine, fine,” he murmured, waving her off.

Chewbacca reached out a large arm to him and growled a few words of admiration for wanting to do the right thing, but Rey could only nod his thanks before walking away. He needed to find a place to be alone with his thoughts.

* * *

“Dank Farrik! I can’t believe this! So you just let the whole galaxy believe that you killed Emperor Palpatine all this time because it was easier than the real story? When were you going to tell me the truth?”

“ _ Beni… _ ” Han tried, reaching for her.

“This is why I hate this family sometimes!” She yelled. “You’re so  _ infuriating! _ ”

Leia sighed heavily, and Beni wished she could somehow turn this on her mother too. After all, she hadn’t mentioned that Darth Vader was her kriffing grandfather until someone leaked it to the HoloNet and set off a horrific scandal. But that seemed a little unfair, even as she let her temper rage at Luke for basically doing the same thing. It was always a little harder with her mom. She always just wanted them to be closer than they were.

“Can you at least tell me  _ ANYTHING _ about this weird connection that Rey and I share, Oh Great Jedi Master?”

Luke stilled as her ranting ended, bracing himself for more before the words sank in.

“A connection?”

Beni huffed and nodded. Luke’s hand came up to stroke his chin in silent contemplation.

“A connection,” he repeated.

“That’s what I said,” Beni responded, rolling her eyes. “I can feel his emotions. Right now he feels quite lost and despondent.” 

Her uncle frowned deeper. “A connection between two… I’m not sure. There might be something, but I’d have to study the ancient texts…”

He turned away, clearly headed back to the Uneti tree that held most of the Jedi tomes he’d managed to save.

Beni sighed and looked at her parents. Chewie was mumbling something to Han and Leia was watching her brother climb the mountains. Captain Finn just shrugged when Beni’s gaze landed on her silver armor. 

“Guess I should go find that idiot before he finds one of the many ways to get yourself killed on this stupid island,” she muttered to no one in particular.

Finn caught up with her as she headed down the mountain path towards the backside of the island. “I’ll go with you.”

Beni shook her head. “Please don’t. You’re liable to get yourself killed on this stupid rock. It’s better to wait at the Falcon.”

“Mmmkay,” Finn said before turning back. “Suit yourself.”

In truth, Beni just wanted a little time alone, with her thoughts and with Rey. The day had been an absolute whirlwind and she was ready for a long nap, but for now she’d fetch Rey and they could talk a bit. And maybe then she could rest her tired mind and body.

She found him in the cave, looking down the blowhole to the watery dangers beneath. It didn’t surprise her that he was drawn to the place. Luke warned her to stay away from it, and it gave her shivers every time she snuck down there just to defy those orders. Perhaps it was just the way the cave never caught the sun or the way the water dripped down and made the air chilled on the hottest days, but it felt dark and otherworldly. Very much unlike the rest of the island which was cold and windy, but full of so much life.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” she said as she entered the cave. “Could suck you right in.”

Rey turned toward her, his helmet was still on and so she couldn’t discern his emotions beyond what their connection allowed. He seemed troubled though, that much was certain.

“Oh. I’ve never seen anything like it before,” he said, peering back into the hole anyway.

Beni reached out and grabbed his wrist, yanking him away from immediate danger. At least he wouldn’t get pulled in with the next surge, just drenched.

“It’s a blowhole. If the waves get high up enough, the water will funnel up and then suck anything in its path down.”

“Oh.”

It was then, Beni realized he was looking down at where her hand still gripped his wrist. A warmth flooded their connection that made her gut flutter with nervousness. Where had his troubled thoughts gone, she wondered. And what exactly had distracted him from them?

“Hey,” she said softly, tugging him again, but not enough to bring him closer. “Take off your helmet.” 

He seemed flustered by the request and pulled his hand away. “Why?”

Beni felt her cheeks start to flush and suddenly she wished she had a mask to hide behind too. “I don’t know, it’s weird talking to someone when you can’t see their face.”

Rey turned away and headed back toward the edge of the hole again. “I prefer having it on.”

Beni’s lips curled in anger as she stomped over and pulled him back yet again. “Don’t stand so close to the edge, I swear! You’re going to get yourself killed like that!”

“Fine!” Rey seethed, his anger sounding sharper with the metallic sound of the modulator. “Show me how to get down to the cave below then!”

Beni frowned as he tugged his hand back again. “It’s too dangerous! Why the hell do you want to go down there anyway?”

“It’s calling to me,” he said with more urgency. “And I need answers. I need to know how I can defeat my grandfather! There has to be a way to get down there.”

She was still forming a response as Rey pulled away and stepped closer to the blowhole’s edge again. But in the back of her mind, part of her knew the only response she really had was to try and pull him away from danger before it was too late. 

But their luck had run out, and at that moment the icy water surged up and sucked them down into the cave beneath the cave, where they tumbled against water so hard it felt like rocks were hitting them.

As the surge fell away, Beni managed to pull herself up to the surface for air. Once she regained her senses, she looked around only to see that Rey was not doing the same. 

Ducking back under the water she saw him unmoving, merely sinking to the bottom. It took all her remaining strength to get to him and pull him back to the surface, fighting the riptide all the way.

When they were both firmly on land and not in danger of being swept away again, her hands dashed to the lip of his helmet and she silently thanked the Maker as her fingers clicked something open. 

Water gushed from inside and Beni felt a fresh surge of panic. Water in his lungs would not be easy to remove, and she wasn’t sure she could carry him out of the cave or get help in time to save him. 

She turned him on his side and prayed that whatever had got caught in his throat would trickle out as she wrapped her arms around his torso and pulled her fists hard against his stomach.

She was rewarded with the sound of a little splat of water hitting the ground, though Rey remained otherwise still. Beni pressed her face against his back, praying to whatever makers or unmakers were out there to not take away this man who suddenly felt far too important to her.

For a moment she tried to will some of her life force to exit her and enter him, anything,  _ anything- _ Because even if they were, as far as she knew, still enemies of a sort, there was more there. More that she hadn’t even gotten a chance to discover yet because they hadn’t even had a moment to sit and talk together  _ alone, _ and she knew that she would give anything just to be close to him.

Just as she prepared to thrust her fists into his stomach again, he drew a small raggedy breath and coughed hard. Beni looked up to see his shoulders heaving from the effort to breathe normally, then pressed her face against him once again as tears began to flood her eyes. 

She pulled away and let him gently come to rest on his back, brushing away strands of his damp hair from his eyes. He looked up at her weakly, coughing again, and she couldn’t help but smile to see his face again. 

“You saved me,” he whispered hoarsely. “Thank you.”

Her tears finally spilled over at that, and with them came laughter. “I told you not to go near the blowhole, you kriffing idiot.”

“You did,” he said, reaching up a hand to cup her cheek. “I should have listened.”

Beni felt herself leaning down, closer to him, and it was of her own volition, but it felt like something was guiding her too. It felt right.

The thought barely crossed her mind that this was her very first kiss because all she could think about was how wonderful his soft, wet lips were pressed against hers. She wanted to wrap herself up in him, surround herself with whatever it was that bound them together so they could always be together whether their lips were or not.

His other hand came around her waist, pulling Beni on top of him. She worried for a moment that he was too weak to support her muscular form, but he nuzzled his nose into her hair and she closed her eyes as they just rested for a moment, the crashing waves lulling them into a more relaxed state.

“I’ve wanted to do that since I met you,” Rey whispered into her ear.

“I’m glad you did,” she whispered back. “Finally.”

Rey chuckled lightly. “We only just met this morning.”

“I never knew a Sith could be such a gentleman,” she said, grinning widely at him.

That set him off laughing until it turned into a small coughing fit, but when that was over, Rey ran a hand through her wet hair and gazed at Beni softly. “You’re so beautiful when you smile.”

Beni felt herself blush from head to toe, but she didn’t mind because Rey had already pulled her down for another kiss. Just the feel of him touching her made her sigh happily, and she chased the feeling, running with it as if she was running through the fields of grass and tiny flowers that filled the island. 

She chased that feeling from the top of the island’s highest peak and down through the cliffs where the little porgs were nuzzling their mates and feeding their young. Even the thala-sirens seemed happy for her, and she kept following the feeling all the way back down to the cave where the darkness that lay there only gently reminded her that there were more serious matters at hand, when the two of them were ready to confront them.

* * *

Rey groaned as he finally pulled himself up from the hard ground. No doubt about it, he would be sore and bruised for a few days. He would have gladly laid there longer, losing himself in Beni’s pretty eyes, but she warned him that the tide would come in soon and they were getting cold, so it was time. 

“It’s so creepy here,” she said as they approached the strange wall that shone almost like a mirror, but Rey didn’t feel troubled by the darkness he felt.

Darkness had always been a part of the world around him, ruthless and uncaring most of the time. But sometimes  _ -rarely- _ it was kind like those on Jakku who would slice the throats of elders who were no longer able to work, just after their last credits had been spent and before they were forced to starve in the desert. He supposed that was why it had been so easy to become a Sith, he’d come to accept the darkness. Sometimes it was necessary.

Rey spread his palm out on the icy cold of the glass. When he was younger, perhaps he would have begged to see his parents, to know their fates, who they were, why they hadn’t returned for him. Now, however, the question was different.

It rang through his mind, pulling him apart and counting all the seconds of his life and lining them up as if they were all here, connected to him and the mirror. 

“How do I defeat him?”

The echo bounced off the mirror and past all his past selves and on into the future selves he could now see reflected in its shiny surface. He watched them carefully, watched how they moved and shifted into something new. Excitement grew in his belly as he watched the forms become murky as they took shape, and then, they seemed to walk forward, closer to the mirror, closer to where he could see them.

Suddenly he felt a hand at his back and the forms became clear. But instead of some long-held secret, it was just him and Beni. Standing there, side by side, like they were now. 

His eyes darted around quickly, trying to discern some other clue. Perhaps a weapon at their backs or in their hands, but no, it was just them. Still damp from their ordeal in the raging waves.

He frowned. Just them? 

“Did the mirror give you any answers?” Beni asked.

His eyes were fixed on the image in the mirror still, but it did not waver as Benimina spoke or as he shifted. It was them. Together. That’s how they’d defeat Palpatine. But _how?_

Rey turned his head towards her questioning eyes and gulped down his nerves. “It did.” 

A hint of a hopeful smile crossed her lips. “What did it tell you?”

He tried to smile back, even though he didn’t want to smile at all. The very thought of bringing her into battle made him far too nervous. “It told me that we’re going to defeat my grandfather.”

Beni blinked, then began to grind her jaw as she digested his words. “We?”

“Yes,” he said, putting an arm around her waist. “So we better get to work on your training.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if anyone isn't a fan of how I treated Luke this chapter. It is mostly for comedic effect, but I am a little salty towards OT Luke worshippers after TROS. I promise he gets a little redemption later on in the fic.
> 
> Comments are love <3


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beni and Rey learn more about their unique connection and begin training Beni to take on Emperor Palpatine.

Beni grumbled all the way back up to the surface about how she didn’t want to become a Jedi. She grumbled all throughout the little talk they had with her parents and Chewie, and then all throughout the arrangements Rey made with Captain Finn to bring in one of his knights to serve as his body double while they prepared for battle.

No one listened to her complaints, but she felt obligated to share them anyway. She’d trained for five whole years to no avail, and she wasn’t about to train under Luke EVER again. Just being on the island was bad enough.

But with Rey’s plan set in motion, she knew it was too late. He needed to defeat Palpatine, and it was a really good plan. Even if she wasn’t sure how to use her Force powers yet and the plan was rather reliant on the fact that she’d have some future ability to do so. 

Luke was still off somewhere, his nose in his precious texts, so when her mother offered to talk to him about the plan while they got changed into dry clothes, Beni didn’t argue. Still, she felt sad packing up her things on the Falcon. She only had a tiny bunk and fresher, but it felt like the only home she’d had since her mother had sold their old house on Chandrila and started up the Resistance. It always felt a little hard to leave it.

She waited for Rey to land his personal TIE Fighter and then showed him up to the little grouping of huts that humans were allowed to occupy, giving him all the advice she could on how not to piss off the Caretakers.

“Whatever you do, don’t create a mess for them. They hate messes,” she sighed as she opened up the hut furthest from Luke’s. Any chance to avoid him. 

“Okay,” Rey said, following her into the hut. “I’ll do my best. I’m not a messy person.” 

Beni set down her things on the little bed. “That’s good. You don’t want to get on their bad side.”    
  
He stepped closer to her, to the point where they were nearly touching. “Any more advice?” 

She turned to face him, smiling as she wrapped her arms around his waist. It was rather nice that he’d taken off the helmet once he returned to the island so she could admire his pretty eyes. “Only that these huts are  _ not _ soundproof.”   
  
Rey stepped back a foot, grimacing. “Good to know.” 

Beni closed the gap between them and kissed him anyway. Kissing was quiet, after all. It still sent her senses flying to the highest heights of the island.

“BENI?”

Her mother’s voice was loud against the otherwise quiet of the huts, and Beni pulled away just as quickly as Rey did. She wiped her mouth with her sleeve and hoped her blush would fade by the time she had to face her mother. 

“What is it?” she called back as she hurried to unpack her things and look busy.

A moment later, Leia peered through the door. “Your uncle found something.”

“Really?” Beni tried to feign nonchalance, but saw her mother giving Rey a good once-over from over her shoulder. “What did he find?”

Her mother frowned. “Something called a Dyad? I’ve  _ definitely _ never heard of it before.”

Beni looked at Rey pointed, but he just shrugged. “Never heard of it either.”    
  
With a heavy sigh, Beni allowed Leia to lead them up to the old Uneti tree that held the sacred texts. Uncle Luke’s lectures were boring as hell, but she’d asked for his help this time, so she’d have to sit through this one.    
  
She looked over at Rey who just smiled warmly at her.    
_  
_ _ Poor guy. _

* * *

“And so if balance is key, then the Force achieves that balance through midi-chlorians scattered throughout nature and people-”

Rey found his head bobbing again, his eyelids too heavy for him to keep open. It had been far too long since Skywalker had started his lecture. The sun had long since set over the island, and General Organa had already made them a fire, then excused herself to find her far-less-boring husband.    
  
Beni sat in silence, her gaze stony and unmoving, and Rey admired her more for being able to tolerate this rambling for so long. His own training had been very hands-on, and while occasionally it had been necessary to sit down in front of some old dusty tome, it wasn’t for long.   
  
At least he could admire Skywalker for being a great scholar, even if he wasn’t a great warrior.

“Stars,” Beni muttered. “Can you just get to the point already? We don’t need a lesson on midi-chlorians and obtaining balance in the Force, we just want to know what the hell happened to us.”

Luke Skywalker stopped, his robes swaying with unspent motion from the passionate gestures he’d been making during his lecture. The older man’s eyes narrowed in reproach, and for a moment, Rey worried for Beni. He knew their relationship had been volatile.

“Spare me,” she said, holding up a hand. “I’m not your student any longer and I’m not going to put up with any bantha poodoo.”

“Fine,” Luke said, scowling. “You’re two rare beings that balance each other out in the Force. Because of that your powers resonate with each other and you can do things no other Force users can do. Happy?”

Beni nodded. “Thanks.”

Rey watched her get up and turn to leave, and he stood to follow her when Luke spoke again. 

“We start your training again at sunrise then.”

In an instant, he felt her power in the Force darken. 

“Excuse me?” The look on Beni’s face was pure venom, pointed straight at her uncle. Rey wondered if he shouldn’t step between them and help calm the situation. “I’m not training with  _ you. _ ”

Luke laughed. “You think I’m going to let a  _ Sith _ train you? Not a chance in hell.”

Beni closed the distance between them and crowded Luke’s space, growling. “I’d rather let him train me! At least he won’t try to kill me to trick me into using my powers!”

“ _ What?”  _ Rey said, rushing towards Beni’s side and wrapping a protective arm around her without thinking. “He did that to you?”

She snorted with disdain but relaxed into his touch nonetheless. “I woke up one night to find him hovering over my bed with his lightsaber on and the only thing that stopped him was that I didn’t do anything to defend myself when he started to swing.”

Rey felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on edge at the thought. He bared his teeth at the old man, not caring if he looked every bit the evil Sith lord. “And you call yourself a Jedi??”

“As if your master hasn’t put you in danger to help you learn new skills!” Luke spit back, his eyes going wide with rage. “As if you haven’t killed and killed and killed your way across the galaxy! Who are you to criticize me,  _ Palpatine!? _ ”

With that Rey let go of Beni and slammed Luke into the wall of the cave, not caring one bit if he hurt the old man or if it made Beni hate him too. The way Skywalker had said his name like it was an insult rather than an unfortunate legacy made Rey want to call down lightning from the sky itself. 

But he was better than that. Better than his grandfather. Softer, he’d been told.  _ Weak.  _ And yet he’d still risen to power by his own means.

“I may have blood on my hands, but at least I only killed to survive,” he growled. “I was left to  _ die _ on Jakku, but I didn’t! And yes, I took the one chance I had to get off that cursed planet, but I did it so I’d never have to starve or be someone’s slave ever again!”

Luke’s eyes narrowed. “You think you have it all figured out, how to justify it to yourself, don’t you? It’s fine because you’re going to kill Emperor Palpatine. It’s fine because you needed to survive. But you’ve still taken innocent lives!”

Rey slid back and let Luke fall to the ground and cough. Beni stood still, watching them, unsure of whose side to take in this. He could feel the conflict within her at the reminder of his horrible past, and yet at the same time she had so little sympathy for her uncle.

“You Jedi think the world is so black and white. Yes, I killed my master and his henchmen and became the Supreme Leader because of it. And in my first decree, I ended the system of kidnapping and enslavement that filled our ranks. I nearly emptied our war chest just to help them find their families and set off on their own. Since then, I’ve made it the First Order’s new mission to bring order to the galaxy by ending slavery and suffering for all!”

He stood over Luke, daring the old man to rise and strike back at him like he knew he could.

“Can you say the New Republic’s done the same? Can you say they’ve done anything more than vote on sanctions and tax bills? They sit and debate while people across the galaxy are  _ starving! _ At least my rule will bring some sort of relief to them!”

With that, he turned and stormed out of the cave, rushing down the hillside at a pace that would probably break his ankle, but he no longer cared. Damn Luke Skywalker if he thought that he was so righteous. He hadn’t even been able to rid the galaxy of Palpatine, and yet he let the rumors spread until he was a legend. 

Rey was so wrapped up in his anger that he didn’t hear Beni coming down the steps behind him, calling out his name until her hand met his shoulder and he nearly stumbled.

“Beni,” he whined as she looked down at him from the step above. Something in her eyes made him feel laid bare, as if she were his judge and executioner. “I know I’m a Sith, I know I’ve done horrible, irredeemable things, but I-”

“Did you really set all the stormtroopers free and use all your credits to help them?”

Rey’s breath caught in his throat, but he nodded quickly.

“And you’re really using your power to stop slavery?”

Rey nodded again, searching her eyes for reassurance that he desperately needed. It’d been a hard battle. He’d had few allies and killed many who resisted his ideas, but he’d done it. To win her approval would send him over all the stars and all the moons.

Beni smiled softly and took his hand. “Then Luke’s dead wrong about you.”

She leaned over to kiss him, and Rey thought he could cry right then. No one in all his years had ever shown him affection like this. Snoke had shown something, but it was cruel and twisted, and he’d known that even as he’d desperately chased it. But  _ this, _ this was pure. There was nothing she stood to gain from standing by his side, nothing at all. And yet here she was, pouring herself into his arms like they’d know each other all their lives when they’d only met that morning.

And yet he did know her. He knew everything she liked the moment he did it, could feel every little dip and swell of emotion as if it was his own mood. And somehow he knew that if he pulled her closer with his hand on a particular spot on her back, she’d want more of him.

Except when he did that, she pulled back suddenly. 

“We should go,” she said, breathless. “I get the feeling Uncle Luke might be watching us.”

Rey grimaced at that and happily let Beni lead him back to the little village where their huts lay. But instead of pressing him to return to his hut, she pulled him inside hers and shut the door. Not only that, but she blushed furiously and barely knew where to look when he stripped off his shirt so he could join her in the little bed the Caretakers had prepared.

But it had been a long, tiring day and, as she’d said, the huts were very much not soundproof, so Rey was more than content to drift off to sleep in her arms.

* * *

When Beni woke the next morning, she’d realized never been so comfortable in her life. She had, of course, woken up several mornings feeling warm and cozy like she’d never wanted to get out of bed, but this was something else entirely. Perhaps it was the way sleeping next to the other half of her dyad, or the soft noise of the waves, or even the cooing of distant porgs, but it felt like peace itself.

Her eyes traveled across Rey’s form wrapped in her arms. There were so many little things about him she hadn’t noticed yet. The freckles that dotted his tanned skin, little scars from unknown battles, the way that  _ -despite their difference in size- _ her biceps were just a bit bigger than his. He looked so gentle while sleeping, like a child, almost. 

She would have given anything to spend the rest of her life just like this, but unfortunately life on the island wouldn’t allow for it. Judging by the brightness of the sun, Luke had already gathered his food for the day and set to work. If they wanted to eat, they had better hope the thala-sirens were still sunning and the Caretakers would spare some of their porg eggs.

“Time to wake up,” she whispered, kissing Rey’s nose gently.

She giggled as his delicate lashes fluttered open and he blinked away the night’s sleep. Her laughter was cut off by his lips capturing hers for a slow and heated kiss until he finally remembered himself and pulled away.

They got ready in their separate huts and met back in the courtyard. Rey still looked sleepy. 

“No caf, I’m guessing,” he said by way of greeting. 

“Nope,” she replied, smiling and pressing a milk jug into his hands.

Rey groaned as he took hold of the jug, but didn’t complain as they walked down to the Caretaker village for eggs. He did do a double take at the thala-sirens and grimaced at the blue milk that came out.

“It tastes better than it looks,” she offered.

With that, they had a decent little breakfast, though Rey looked forlornly at the bread ration Beni brought from the Falcon. She could feel the deep sadness that echoed throughout their bond, but he ate all his food with gusto and mopped up every last drop of runny egg, so she decided it would be a conversation for another time.

Their meal finished, they hiked up to a little valley where there was enough flat space to do some practice. Not knowing what was in store, Beni decided to stretch, just in case her muscles needed to be limber.

But when she looked up, she saw Luke on a nearby rock and fanning his cape out as if to sit.

“What are you doing here?” She growled. 

“Observing,” Luke said as he got comfortable on the rock. “Your mother would kill me if I let her only child fall to the Dark Side.”

Beni sighed at that. As much as she hated to admit it, it was true. Leia hadn’t wanted to become a Jedi herself, but she very much believed in a philosophy of hope and goodness all her own. Beni had always found it hard to live up to her high standards, but the least she could do was not become a Sith.

Looking over at Rey, he just shrugged helplessly. “The fundamentals are the same, really.”

“Fine,” she said, turning to glare at Luke. “But if you try to take over, we’re leaving.”

Luke gestured for them to start without another word, so she turned back to Rey. He seemed more nervous now, biting his lip and looking around for something. After several minutes lost in thought, Luke sighed and Rey began to apologize profusely.

“I’ve never taught anyone before,” he whispered to her. 

“It’s okay,” she whispered back, throwing a glare in Luke’s direction. “Don’t pay attention to him.”

Finally, Rey had her sit on the ground, her hands pressed flat on the ground with his on top of hers. 

“Feel the ground beneath your fingers, then, if you can, go deeper. Follow it. See where it becomes grass or rock. See where it turns into flowers or gets crushed by a nest or a rock.”

Beni frowned, trying to push her disdain for meditation out of her mind so she could feel what he was telling her to.

“If that doesn’t work…” he mumbled. “Feel my presence like you normally do. Try to follow where I go.”

She wasn’t sure what he meant by that, but she did know it was easy to feel what he was feeling. And right now, what he was feeling was… a little piece of dirt where a flower had grown. She could see it clearly: swaying in the wind, each yellow petal perfectly shaped.

Then she felt a tug and realized that Rey had moved beyond it without her. She realized she could sense and follow him, so she did.

“Good,” he murmured to her as they moved through the grass to a cloister of porg nests.

She kept following as he explored all sorts of different parts of the island until finally he squeezed her hands and brought her back to the present. 

“Do it without me,” Rey smiled. 

So Beni closed her eyes again and pressed her hands into the soil and just let herself feel everything on the island. The Caretakers were out doing laundry, the porgs were diving for fish for their young, and from the top, she could even look down and see herself sitting in the little valley while Rey and Luke watched on. 

Just as she headed down to the mirror cave, she felt Luke’s presence tug on hers and her eyes snapped open.

“Just a warning,” her uncle mumbled from his rock. 

Rey soothed the scowl from her face with a squeeze of his hand and another smile. “You’re doing great.”

Next, he placed a smooth pebble in her palm and made Beni hold it out. For a split-second it felt silly, but then his hand was on top of hers and a reassuring feeling rushed in.

“Focus on the rock,” his soft voice instructed. “Feel how it connects to the Force. Through the air, through the rock it came from, through your skin. See if you can lift it.”

And just as he said it, it was as if she understood just what he wanted her to do. More than that, it was as if she had done it before and her mind was playing the action over and over and over again.

“Ow!” Rey said, pulling his hand back from hers. 

The little pebble tumbled down from her hand, propelled by an unseen force, even though Beni hadn’t moved at all.

They both stared at it for a brief moment before Rey turned back at her with a smile. 

“You did it."

Beni blinked, then gasped. “I did.”

“Try it without my hand there,” he said, excited, picking up the pebble and dropping it back into her palm.

Immediately her brain went through the motions as if she’d done it a thousand times before, like it was automatic. And it hopped off her palm with ease.

“Fantastic,” Rey said, his eyes growing bright with delight. Through their Bond she could feel his growing pride and curiosity. As the hours wound down and the sky grew dark, he provided her with task after task, and Beni zipped through them quickly as if she’d done them before.

Now she was lifting larger rocks, moving them to new places, and deflecting the little rocks he threw at her. It seemed like every task was done before, but more than that: she was starting to understand not only how to do the tasks she was set, but how to do them precisely how she wanted them to be done.

Not only could she deflect Rey’s little rocks, but she could send four skittering one way, another two the opposite way, and one straight to Luke’s shoulder. Her uncle grunted at the hit, and sighed. A moment later he finally stood and walked down the mountain. 

Rey and Beni both stood in silence as his figure got further and further away, only to break into giddy laughter the moment he was out of earshot. Rey scooped her up into his arms bringing her off the ground for a moment as he twirled her around. 

“You’re incredible,” he murmured into her lips as they slowed to a stop. 

“You’re a good teacher,” she whispered back.

For a moment they just rocked back and forth as their kiss deepened, and then they pulled apart -staying close, within reach, foreheads touching. 

“Better than Skywalker?”

Beni laughed again, and began to peck at his lips, drunk off the feeling of touching him. “So much better!”

He pulled her backward and leaned on the rock where Luke had sat just moments before, pulling Beni on top of his lap. She felt him between her legs as their bodies and a spark ran through her. Without warning, she gasped quietly and Rey pulled her even closer before kissing her hungrily.

Beni shuddered as Rey’s large hands roamed her body, lingering at places of interest that he dared not to creep too close to, though she really wished he would. She was just about to grind her hips against his hard length when a porg screeched as it passed by their ears. 

Beni yelped, jumping away from Rey and nearly tumbling onto her ass. Only the quick pull of his arms saved her from the fall, but now when their bodies met, their hearts beat fast for a completely different reason. 

Rey’s cheeks looked just as red as hers.

“Maybe we should head down to the huts and have some dinner,” she gulped. 

Rey sighed with exhaustion and nodded. “Yeah, we should.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love <3


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beni and Rey make their final preparations before their battle with Emperor Palpatine and get a little carried away.

Life on the island was simple, and Rey could appreciate that. Every morning, they gathered food and cooked their breakfast before heading up to the valley and beginning Beni’s training anew. He was starting to learn the rhythm of the place, and that put him at ease there. And with that came a chance to appreciate the beautiful setting they were in. 

It had been quite a long time since he’d been in one place long enough to begin truly appreciating it.

In just days, Beni zipped through every test of her powers that Rey could devise for her. He was beginning to run out of things to teach her. There was only so much one could do in such an informal classroom and without the wisdom of experience.

It was at their usual fire-side dinners of fish stew that Rey came up with the idea to test her combat skills the next day, and he fell asleep in Beni’s arms like he normally did: trying desperately not to think about the press of her soft, warm breasts against his skin.

It turned out that Beni was quite a skilled fighter, though she had grown rusty after years of fist and blaster fights, she returned to lightsaber training with ease. There was so much power behind her swings, that Rey was beginning to feel less and less like he was teaching her, and more and more like he was fighting against her. Beni seemed to thrive on the praise he gave her and clearly she enjoyed the chance to overpower him the more they sparred.

Luke watched, showing no sign of whether or not he approved of Rey’s curriculum. It had proved less of a challenge to steer Beni away from the Sith methods he’d learned. She didn’t need to turn toward the dark to harness any ability, nor did she seem to turn toward the light either. She just seemed to pull from wherever was needed, as if she’d been doing it as many years as he had.

Finally, after they’d been on the island for over a week, Rey realized he had nothing left to teach. He’d even taught her how to deflect the signature Palpatine lightning strike that his grandfather so loved to use.

“I think you’re ready,” he said aloud as Beni recovered from an attack from him. “I think as ready as I can make you anyway.”

“You think so?” She asked as she straightened and tried to regain her breath. “There has to be more than that.”

Turned to look at Luke who simply shrugged. “You know Palpatine better than I did, kid.”

From there, they spent another few days simply strategizing, planning, and practicing moves together just to be as ready as they could be. It all seemed too simple at times, and Rey felt nervous waiting for the other shoe to drop, but Beni was a more than capable fighter and he felt silly at times not trusting her skill. But his grandfather did have a knack for having tricks up his sleeve.

Beni sensed his nervousness, tried to soothe it with kisses when they laid in bed, waiting for sleep to take them. But soon it was the day they planned to leave and he was packing up his TIE Silencer with their things, and yet he still felt so unsteady.

He could sense that Beni was nervous too, the way she kept staring at his ship as she prepared for the journey. He didn’t blame her. She’d never fought against anyone but him with the Force, and now she would be forced to battle one of the most powerful Sith Lords of all time.

Luke wandered over just as they were finishing up. “Benimina.”

With a huff, she went over to him and they spoke in quiet tones while Rey watched on. He strained to hear what they were speaking about if only to make sure to intervene in case things got too heated. But in the end, the old man simply pressed a lightsaber in her hands with misty eyes and Beni was left in shock. 

“What was that about?” Rey asked as he jogged over to her. 

Beni looked down at the saber in her hands and then back up again, her mouth twisted with distress. “He said he was sorry for everything he did when I was a kid, and that I was the most talented student of the Force he’d ever seen.”

“Wow,” Rey said, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and kissing the top of her head. “High praise from that crotchety old man.”

Beni covered her mouth quickly, but not quickly enough to stop a little laugh from escaping. Rey kissed her head again. “Let’s get going.”

That brought his mind back to the problem he’d be contemplating the entire morning: the fact that his TIE Silencer did  _ not _ have two seats.

He hadn’t really been thinking when he brought it back. It was the only ship programmed with the Sith Wayfinder that held the coordinates to Exegol, so of course he’d brought it along. It’d taken him weeks just to do it. Programming a new ship had never really occurred to him.

But now Beni was just minutes away from finding out that she’d be sitting in his lap all the way to his grandfather’s planet, and he wasn’t so sure she’d be as happy about it as he would.

* * *

“There’s nowhere for me to sit.”

Rey looked guiltily up from his seat, clearly aware of the issue ahead of time, which irked her. Obviously a bit of his Darksider nature peeking out. “Well, there is one spot.”

Beni stared at him, an eyebrow raised in disbelief. “On your lap?”

He nodded, his guilt even more apparent in the way his face turned red and how he had to look away from her. She sighed aloud, which immediately made him scramble to explain.

“It-It’s not easy to get to Exegol. There are only two wayfinders, and one was destroyed, and this was the only ship I had programmed to get there. It would have taken weeks to program a new ship.”

“Uh huh,” she said, finally lifting herself over the sides and into the ship.

There was barely enough space for her to stand between his legs. “You gonna be able to fly with me sitting on you?”

Behind her, Rey gulped. “I’ll figure it out. Can’t be harder than some of the battles I’ve flown in.”

Beni smirked at him, her ass slowly descending upon his lap, deliberately teasing him for his stupidity. His legs were a bit too far apart for her to sit comfortably, so they adjusted, and Beni felt a telltale lump poke at her backside.

Rey grunted and tried to readjust, which only made her ample buttocks shift against him again, and he choked trying to recover. Beni just sat quietly, enjoying his reaction to her body and pretending she didn’t feel him growing harder.

His pre-flight checks only made things worse, what with him leaning over to punch in numbers and prepare the flight coordinates. Every movement caused their bodies to rub against each other, and clearly Rey was trying to will his lower body not to react. 

It certainly wasn’t the mood she’d been expecting as they headed off to kill Palpatine, but Beni wasn’t going to say anything about that either. After all, they’d only spent the few weeks curled up together in her little hut, trying to hold themselves back. She’d been mostly content to take things slow, but their heated makeout sessions had also left her wanting more. Her core grew dangerously wet just thinking about him pushing her over the console and taking her hard and fast.

“Can you get that red switch over there?” He asked her, and she realized there was an opportunity waiting for her, if she wanted to take it.

“This one?” Beni asked, lifting her ass off his lap slightly as she reached for the only red switch on the cockpit’s ceiling.

“That’s the one,” Rey said, his voice tight.

She flipped it, relishing the satisfying thunk it made as she did, and pressed her ass back down into her lap, twisting her hips just so to get comfortable again. Rey, whose head was just over her shoulder, whimpered ever so quietly, and Beni knew she had him right where she wanted.

Still, they had to leave the planet, so Beni kept her teasing to a minimum until they reached the atmosphere and Rey began to prepare for the jump to hyperspace. This time she wriggled with every moment he made, and Beni could feel him breathing hard beneath her, trying to keep himself contained. 

“No buttons you need me to push?” She asked, trying not to giggle and let him in on her little game too early.

“No,” he said, his voice much higher than normal and cracking just a bit.

“Okay,” she said, purposely grinding against him as she pretended to get comfortable.

“Beni,” Rey growled, one of his hands gripping her hips tight enough to bruise.

“What is it?” She asked, her tone the picture of innocence even as she felt herself get wetter. 

“What are you doing?”

She smirked, unable to resist the temptation anymore. Her hooks were already in, now all she had to do was drag in her catch. “Nothing, just trying to get comfortable since we only have  _ one _ seat.”

He pressed his lips against her ear. “Seems to me like you’re trying to provoke me.”

“Provoke a Sith? I would never!” She giggled. 

“Naughty girl,” Rey whispered, grinding up into her. “You want this, don’t you?”

This time it was her turn to whimper as the friction lit up her body, reminding her just how much she was feeling it too. 

“I think you’ve been wanting this a lot more than you let on.” His hands roamed up her sides, cupping her breasts before kneading into them. “You’ve wanted this all along.”

Beni let herself moan freely as he teased her. There was no more sense in pretext, and every touch felt like fire burning deliciously across her body. “But we couldn’t have, my uncle would’ve heard.”

“Skywalker can’t hear us now,” he whispered darkly.

She smiled, grinding her hips against him a little more enthusiastically this time. “Then what are you waiting for?” 

In a flash, his hands left her breasts and began to tug at the waistband of her pants. Once those were pulled down to her knees, his hands were on her again: one reaching up her top, and the other pressing into her wet cunt without any hesitation or shyness. 

“Already so wet,” Rey purred into her ear as two of his fingers sunk into her. “You’ve been ready all this time.”

Beni bit her lip and nodded, growing dizzy from the ecstasy he was giving her. All at once, he was pumping his fingers into her while his palm provided friction for her very sensitive clit, and his lips sucked a bruise into her neck while his other hand pulled at one of her nipples -now freed from her chest coverings. 

“I think you’re more than ready for me, sweetheart,” he said, pulling his fingers out and reaching between them to undo his pants. “I have an implant, so you don’t have to worry.”

She moaned in approval and lifted her hips to allow Rey to pull himself out, but instead he pushed her forward and stood so he could line himself up. Beni gasped as he began to fill her. Her thighs had only revealed so much about his size to her, and he was bigger than she was expecting, but in a very, very good way. She pushed back as he grew bolder and suddenly she was filled. It was so satisfying, so delicious, so perfect, and she cried out in pleasure at full volume.

Above her, Rey chuckled breathlessly as he began to thrust. “Does my cock feel good, Beni?”

Beni smirked at him over her shoulder and pushed back, causing him to moan as she sank all the way down onto his cock. He gripped her hips and began to slide her up and down his length with no mercy, punctuating each thrust by bottoming out inside her, their hips slapping together as they rutted like wild things. 

Much to her dismay, Rey slowed down and bent over her to kiss at her neck. She pressed back at him, trying to get some of the same speed and friction, but he just wrapped his arms around her middle to hold her in place as he filled her with short, rapid fire thrusts. It wasn’t until one of his hands crept between her legs and began to circle her clit that she realized what he was up to. 

“You’re squeezing so hard around me,” Rey murmured as he grew bolder with his touch. “I want to make you come on my cock.”

Her hands gripped the console, holding on for dear life as he ran his fingers up and down her folds, giving her a slight break before he dove right back in and teased her clit.

“ _ Kriff- Rey- _ ”

“Come for me, sweetheart,” Rey urged, nipping at her ear, stroking her harder. 

As if his fingers and words had summoned magic, pleasure crashed down on her as she came. Her whole body shivered and sang, and Beni heard Rey moan just as his cock grew larger and filled her up with his spend. 

Rey wrapped his arms around her, pressing them together as bliss washed over them. She hadn’t noticed it before, but now she’d realized their connection had grown stronger, and their shared contentment rippled throughout their Bond and multiplied as they came down from the high. 

She wound up back in his lap as they kissed and kissed and kissed, until finally they realized they couldn’t sit in space forever. They  _ had _ to go kill Palpatine. 

Or at the very least try to stop kissing each other long enough to put their clothes back on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love <3


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final battle arrives! But will Beni and Rey be able to defeat Palpatine on their own?

It was strange. Rey should have felt nervous flying down to Exegol. His grandfather had always made him uneasy, even before he’d solidified his plan to kill him. But as he piloted the Silencer through the Unknown Regions, all he could feel was the power growing between him and Rey.

The Force seemed... _ happy _ that they’d just had sex.    


Rey did not want to think too hard on why it was. As long as the Force was happy and Beni was happy, he certainly wasn’t going to argue. But still, they needed to be careful, ready. And he was, but Beni was snoring lightly in his lap.

He touched down the ship on Exegol and she jolted awake, the movement of her hips sending a tempting tingle to his spent cock. Thankfully it knew better than to ask for a second round.

It occurred to him, as they walked down into the depths of the Ancient Sith Temple, that they might just die at Palpatine’s hands and he was struck with guilt and sadness at the thought.

“Beni,” he said quickly, grabbing her hand as if he knew what he wanted to say. He didn’t. Not yet, but something was forming on his lips.

“What is it?” She asked, her tone urgent. She was clearly on high alert now, focused on finding whatever it is he’d spotted.

“It’s-It’s not-”

She looked up at him then, her eyes going soft with concern. “Is something wrong?”

“No,” Rey said, trying to regain some sense of composure. “I just-”

His heart was nearly bursting with what he wanted to say, so much that she felt it through their bond because her eyes began to light up with joy.

“I love you,” he said softly, knowing now that she already knew, knowing that he could say it without fear. 

“I know,” she said, smiling widely at him.

Rey blinked, caught off guard by her response. He could feel her love swirling around him, but all she could say was  _ “I know” _ ? The Force bond they shared wasn’t that obvious, was it?

She giggled and leaned up to kiss his cheek. “I love you too, silly.”

She turned back to the path, leaving him to try and process what just happened. But before they got further, they found themselves surrounded by his grandfather’s guards, a ragtag group of lesser Force sensitives called the Knights of Darkness that Snoke had tried to get him to lead. It hadn’t worked out. In fact, he’d managed to kill one in a brawl several years ago and they’d been on iffy terms ever since.

“Kriff,” he muttered under his breath as they activated their vibro-blades. His saber flashed red a moment later, followed by Beni’s blue blade. 

“You know these guys, huh?” Beni asked, pulling her saber close to prepare herself for the first strike. 

“Unfortunately,” Rey muttered, trying to press her away from the danger with his free hand. “Be careful.” 

“Taken on more guys than this in seedy cantinas all over the galaxy,” Beni said smugly. “Let’s see them be careful with  _ me. _ ”

Before he could stop her, she charged at the two knights closest to her and the three closest to him began their charge, hoping to overwhelm the both of them quickly. 

Rey slashed his saber low across their bodies, ducking away from their blades in return. The three knights fled backward to escape his attack, giving Rey just a moment to look over at Beni and see that she’d already managed to push back two of them as she dealt with a third.

Still, these were skilled fighters and it was only a moment before they regained their composure and attacked again. Rey managed to dodge one blade by a hair's breadth, stabbing his other attacker right through the chest as the other man prepared for an overhead thrust. Unfortunately the knight hadn’t predicted his next move and left himself wide open. Rey watched the others try to help their comrade, but the gaping hole where his heart should have been was a strong indicator that the man wasn’t going to survive. 

Now they were  _ really _ going to hate him.

* * *

Beni loved fighting. There was nothing better than a good fight, really. The rush of adrenaline, the challenge of someone you didn’t know, and trying to get the better of them. She was an excellent fighter, so most of the time she was able to knock her opponents flat on their asses, and they’d grumble at the fact that a woman beat them. That was always satisfying.

These men proved a bit more formidable than that. They weren’t the kind of brawlers she’d find in some bar, picking fights if someone so much as bumped into them. Nor were they like the street fighters who put on a show while their accomplices picked pockets. These were the kind of fighters that a person would only meet if they’d crossed the wrong people. Usually the kind that found those poor souls in their beds or some dark alley, who then disappeared into the shadows. And _ that _ was rather exciting. 

She’d already managed to slash one and wound his arm, but that only stopped him momentarily. The other two were currently covering for him while he quickly adjusted his weapon for his other arm. So, Beni parried as much as she could then redoubled her attack, hoping she’d manage to slice another one open and they’d really be on the lam.

They were leading her away from Rey -though he was still close enough that she could hear some of the sounds of his battle in the distance. She managed to knock an arm plate off one knight, though the other one was swinging his weapon and she needed to get away from it quick.

In her haste, she swung her saber wildly and when she regained her footing, she looked up and saw one of her opponents sliced in half as if it had been nothing.

“Woah,” she breathed. Certainly not her first time killing someone, but  _ definitely _ the first time with a lightsaber.

The man’s companions looked at their fallen brother for a moment, then came back at her full force, driving them further away from Rey. She managed to keep them off her, slicing a wound into the side of one, but the man merely stumbled and then kept going.

“Wow, you guys don’t know when to quit, do you?” Beni said, walking backward to put more space between them before they charged her again. 

Oddly, they didn’t charge or follow her. And Beni didn’t realize why until her foot didn’t hit rock and she began to tumble down a deep, dark pit.

She landed with a thud and some other uncomfortable noises that probably meant she broke something. Currently her whole body hurt and her head was woozy, so it was very hard to tell what. Only sheer luck and some coordination had allowed her to protect herself from bouncing too hard against the rock.

There wasn’t anything but darkness as far as she could tell. It was hard to focus her eyes, what with all the pain in all the other parts of her body, but she  _ felt _ like someone else might be there, hiding in the shadows. 

“Who’s there?” She croaked.

As if on cue, lights flickered on and machinery whirred to life. But no one stepped out to greet her, so Beni carefully lifted herself up, trying to stand.

Her right leg was not in good shape, though she could put a bit of weight on it long enough to move forward carefully. She leaned against the rock wall, lightsaber in her one good hand. The other just kind of dangled there. Not good. They still hadn’t found Rey’s grandfather, and she had no earthly idea where she was.

Thankfully, the knights hadn’t followed her down, so she decided to look for the mysterious presence. She probably should wait until Ben found her, but she also didn’t want to get eaten by some surprise dungeon monster. 

The machinery turned out to be strange lab equipment full of look-a-like bodies, though the bodies didn’t look quite human. Beni had no idea what they could be for, but she supposed weird scientific experiments weren’t beyond the means of a Sith Lord. 

It wasn’t until she pushed past some raggedy curtains that she found the presence she was looking for. An old man, connected to some machine by wires and tubes that held him off the ground. 

Beni frowned and moved to inspect the body closer, but as she stepped forward, lightning flashed across the room and the man came to life. 

“Welcome, my child,” the man said from under the hood of his robes. His machinery whirred and clicked and slowly he began to move toward her.

Beni scrambled to back away, praying to the stars that this wasn’t Palpatine himself. Rey had told her that his grandfather was sickly and weak in body, but also that did not mean he was any less strong with the Force.

“Do not be frightened, young one,” the man said, a ghastly smile appearing from under the hood as he inched closer. “I do not wish to harm you.”

“Who are you?” Beni growled.

“I think you know that already,” the man chuckled as he backed her into a corner. “Especially considering your…  _ relationship  _ with my grandson.”

“Emperor Palpatine,” she hissed. 

Even though she was backed against a wall, Beni didn’t feel afraid of the old man. She stared at him defiantly as he looked down at her from his mechanical perch.

“You are correct,” he said, smiling before he pulled back. “Tell me. Is he here to kill me?”

Beni grimaced but readied her saber nonetheless. “You bet your ass we are.”

She lit her saber and charged. With any luck, she’d kill him quick so she and Rey could go home.

Instead, she got thrown across the room.

* * *

Panic rushed through Rey again, chilling him to the bone. He could feel Beni’s pain from wherever she was and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Two of the Knights of Darkness were chasing after him, and he’d tried to head towards where Beni had disappeared to, but then he’d found two of the Knights that she’d been fighting and no Beni.

“Kriff.”

His eyes drifted to the open pit beside his opponents and knew she was getting too close to Palpatine’s lair. He had to get to her fast before his grandfather got his clutches on her, so he couldn’t afford to get hurt. 

He lashed out at one of the Knights suddenly and sent him flying down the pit. Judging by the lack of screams, the man was either dead or out cold. When the Knights who had followed him finally caught up, Rey used his powers to send them flying against the rock walls, and they landed with a satisfying crack.

That left the last Knight, who wisely decided to turn tail and run.

Rey sighed with relief and made his way down to his grandfather’s throne room. He had no doubt that Palpatine knew they were here and was eagerly awaiting their arrival. Rey could only pray that he’d come across Beni before she got too close.

The path down to the throne room was a grotesque maze, full of failed experiments that Palpatine had tried to regain his power and strength. None of it had worked, though the clone that became Snoke had been arguably the most successful. Until Rey took over, the First Order might have single-handedly restored the glory of the Empire. Now it was like clay in his hands, being molded into his own unique vision.

He realized as he ran that Beni’s presence in the Force was getting closer, but now it was far weaker than before. Fresh panic poured through his blood as he entered the throne room and saw Beni lying limply as Palpatine hovered over her.

“Ah, my boy, there you are,” the old Sith Lord called out. “I’ve just met your better half.”

Palpatine chuckled at his own joke and Rey’s stomach curdled. 

“What did you do to her?”

“Why, Rey, are you accusing me of an unprovoked attack? It was mere self defense,” Palpatine cackled. “Amusing to think that such an untrained young thing like her could ever succeed where Luke Skywalker  _ himself _ failed.”

Rey skidded to a stop by Beni’s side and fell to his knees. There was a big, bloody gash on the side of her head, and one of her feet looked like it was twisted unnaturally. But when he scanned her face, he saw her eyelids flutter open.

“Rey…” she croaked. 

“I’m here,” he breathed, placing one of his hands on hers and trying his best to send her comfort through their Bond. “It’ll be alright.”

Beni winced slightly and tried to smile at him, but Rey could tell she’d need first aid soon. Or maybe…

His thoughts flew back to his initial studies. All the old texts put him to sleep, but he did remember learning that healing was one power attributed to the Jedi. Perhaps if he could figure out how to heal Beni, he could get her to a First Order ship for better medical care.

“Kill that kriffing nerfherder,” she whispered.

Nodding, he ignited his lightsaber and stood, ready to face his grandfather. This wasn’t what he’d thought the mirror cave had shown him, but he and Rey were together, linked even as she lay near death. The very thought of it brought forth the rage he needed to attack.

He slashed at Palpatine’s robes, but he was too late. The fabric tore away to reveal nothing below, and horrible laughter filled Rey’s ears as he turned to strike again.

“Kill me and my spirit will live on in you, dear child! Strike me down and become the next Emperor Palpatine! Embrace your destiny!” 

Rey gritted his teeth as he dodged a bolt of lightning. “So you WANT to die, old man?”

“Yes! Free my spirit so that I may possess your body!” 

Rey leapt out of the path of the next lightning bolt and turned off his saber. “Why the kriff would I do  _ that? _ ”

Palpatine paused mid-air, stunned. “What?”

Cautiously turning back to look at Beni, who was attempting to sit up, Rey shook his head. “If you’re just going to kriffing possess me, then I’ll just leave. I don’t want to be your puppet!” 

Palpatine frowned. “What? No! I will call down my army! My loyal army!  _ They _ will keep you here!  _ They _ will make you complete the ritual!” 

Rey walked backward, his hands up. “Fine, you can try that, but I’ll still refuse.” 

He’d meant to kneel and pick up Beni, but to his great surprise, she grabbed his arm and used that to help her stand up.

* * *

Everything  _ -literally everything- _ hurt in Beni’s body. Even the simple act of getting up seemed impossible, and yet somehow she managed. Her lightsaber felt far too heavy in her hand like she’d barely be able to lift it, but she had to. Rey needed her.  _ And _ she had an idea.

“So you’re saying,” she said, rebuffing Rey’s offer to help her walk, the excruciating pain she was in be damned. “That if he kills you, you’re going to possess him.”

Palpatine sneered. “Yes, that is correct, child.”

Beni’s thumb moved over the control, igniting her saber. “What about if I kill you?”

The Emperor cackled again. “Foolish child! Do you wish for a repeat of your first attempt?”

Behind her, she heard something heavy and metallic drop to the ground, and she smiled.

“Answer the kriffing question!” She barked, dragging her saber in the ground as she limped over to Palpatine’s machine.

The Emperor grinned widely. “You have darkness within you too. The Skywalker blood always has. I think we could work well together.” 

Now she was just under him, gazing up at the horrifically ugly face of evil. “You’re so right.”

With that, Rey leapt through the air, landing on top of the arm of the machine that kept Palpatine upright. The thing rocked as Rey slid down to his grandfather and grasped his wrists.

“NOW!” Rey screamed.

Beni swung and sent her saber slicing through Palpatine’s middle. His lower half fell unceremoniously at her feet along with several wires and tubes and the liquids that were held within them. 

Above her, Palpatine gasped for air as she took another swing, this time separating his head from his neck. Rey pulled back his hands and the Emperor’s body fell to the floor with the rest of him. And  _ that _ was when Beni’s legs finally gave out.

* * *

When she came too, Rey was above her, his hands pressed into her skin and a look of deep concentration on his face. Beni could feel their Bond surging with his life force as if he was trying to transfer it all to her. 

She brought a hand up to his to stop him and realized she wasn’t in pain anymore. Not at all. And when Rey’s eyes opened, there were tears of relief pouring down his cheeks. 

“Rey,” she whispered, squeezing his hand tighter. 

He pulled her up into a tight hug, which made her extra grateful that he’d healed her injuries, otherwise she might not have survived it. But in the next moment, Rey loosened his grip and pulled back to kiss her softly, his hands caressing her face gently and tangling themselves in her hair. For a moment it was only the two of them left in the whole galaxy. Connected fully, as they should be, happy and content.

“You did it,” he murmured as their foreheads rested against each other. “Thank you.”

“I couldn’t have done it without you,” she chuckled. “I should be thanking you right now.”

Rey shook his head. “We did it together.”

“We did,” Beni mumbled.

He helped her up and they began the long hike back to his ship holding hands. The Sith loyalists scurried through the hallways as they walked, unsure of anything except the need to flee elsewhere.

“How do you feel?” He asked. “Did my grandfather try to possess you? Are you a Sith now?”

Beni felt warmth and love bubbling up with her laughter. “No, I think all that possession talk was all just bantha poodoo. He had no idea what he was playing at.”

Rey hummed and squeezed her hand tighter, and when they arrived at the Silencer, they didn’t have a clue where they were going. Just as long as they could be together and not have to be Jedi or Sith. At least for a little while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, we made it to the end! Evangel10n, I hope you and everyone else reading along enjoyed this fic as much as I've enjoyed writing it. It was admittedly a bit of a challenge at first translating Ben and Rey into the opposite genders with the opposite experiences, but in the end I'm immensely proud of this fic. 
> 
> Cheers!
> 
> Comments are love <3


End file.
